


Feral Afection

by Endumash



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Cute Ending, Feral Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Just Add Kittens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:08:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26053207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Endumash/pseuds/Endumash
Summary: When the Golden Deer cleans the Garreg Mach from thieves, the prince of Faerghus comes out from the cathedral to shut all the noises that came from the outside, surprising everyone.Everyone was concerned to see Dimitri in shitty conditions but what came after was a rather… “adorable and pleasant” surprise. Inside the cathedral, he was taking care of the cats and dogs that were still in the monastery.And after they cleaned the place, the feral man left the monastery. At first everyone thought that now there were people in Garreg Mach, he no longer had to take care of the animals, and that it was very rude from his part. But later, he returns holding his fur cloak in his arms… and within a litter of kittens.Dimitri basically becomes a feral mom for the kittens and he teaches –actually orders– Claude of how to take care of them, essentially becoming the kitten’s dad.
Kudos: 25





	Feral Afection

**Author's Note:**

> Look, I am a loser who is a crazy cat lover.  
> And I have the Dimitri Syndrome: there is only Dimitri in my head other than cats.  
> And when you put them together? Well, that is how this shitty fanfic came to be.

The kittens were so small. The little furballs either were too small or Dimitri was just fucking big. Claude guessed it's both, because even he was impressed of how much the man grew up in these lasts five years. Nevertheless, the kittens were almost half of Dimitri’s palm and because of that, the archer guessed they were almost newborns, but they didn’t have their umbilical cord so, they were older than three days old but younger than a week since they didn’t opened their eyes yet.

When Claude asked where he got the kittens and why who took them with him instead of waiting for the mother to return, Dimitri bitterly said with his still rough voice that he found the dead mother right next to the litter of kittens; otherwise, he would have brought the entire family with him, to a safer place. And he added that since the monastery was abandoned, the sight of abandoned kittens and puppies, especially orphaned ones, became rather common around the place, especially around the nearby villages. And because the villagers themselves are already struggling to survive in the middle of the war, they didn’t have the resources to take care of the stray animals or they just plain didn’t care.

Dimitri placed his fur cloak with the kittens on the floor. The little furballs were meowing loudly, calling for their mom. Both the prince and the Leader waited to see the others cats reactions to the newcomers, to see if any female cat’s mother instincts would make them go and adopt them. At first most of the cats they were curious because of the new scent but to their dismay, they then ignored them completely, none of them recognizing the kittens as their own.

Impatient, the prince growled and turned his head on Claude, who raised his hands very scared and thought, ‘ _I didn’t do anything!_ ’

“Does your army have milk, egg yolks and olive oil?” The prince asked.

“Wha–? …Yes, we have. They are in the dining hall, in the kitchen,” Claude answered trying not to sound scared or confused, for Dimitri could think he is lying to him. The archer was rather surprised to hear such a question from him.

Dimitri grunted, or hummed in approval, and then turned his back on Claude, “keep an eye on them. And keep them warm, they can’t regulate their body temperature on their own,” he said before he walked away. The quickened sound of his stomps indicated that he was really in a hurry.

Claude looked at the prince walk away rather confused. He just wanted to see if the kittens were going to be adopted by one of the female cats, he did not expect Dimitri to boss him around and tell him to take care of them. But… he just felt compelled to do it; the archer just didn't feel good leaving the litter alone and unsupervised. He sat next to the litter and gently grabbed the fur cloak and did his best to hold them tight against his chest, providing the warm they need and being careful to not to crush them or suffocate them. After some moments, the kittens really calmed down. It seems they were feeling cold; Dimitri didn’t joked when he said they can’t regulate their own temperature.

Minutes later, Claude heard again the clanking stomps. The prince returned with a small jar filled of what seemed to be milk –homemade milk with the ingredients he asked for–, a pair of medicinal syringes, the ones that are used to give oral medications, and some tissues. Given of how small the kittens were, not even a baby bottle was small enough to feed them.

The prince looked at the archer and hummed in approval. He sat right in front of him and opened the jar. He grabbed one of the syringes and filled it around at 5 ml, and did the same for the other one and handled it to Claude, who placed the fur cloak right between them.

First, Dimitri took off his gloves and touched the kittens and said with a low voice, “their temperature is correct,” and grabbed one of them. Despite of how ruthless he was when killing the thieves, he was being stupidly gentle with the little furball. He laid down the small animal, its belly facing the fur and warped his middle finger around its neck while petting it with his index finger. Then, he guided the syringe towards the kitten’s mouth and with a gentle pressure he slowly began to feed it.

As Claude watched, he asked, “Why are you feeding it that way?”

“I have seen a lot of _fools_ feeding kittens on their backs as if they were human babies,” Dimitri sounded really angry at the statement he just made, “feed them in a position that is natural for them. Lay them down, on their bellies; this is how they feed from their mother. These are kittens, not human babies.”

Makes sense; humans very often tend to forget that animals have their own identity and their own nature, they are more than “just a pet”, and trying to raise them like a human is nothing more but selfish in human nature, and potentially harmful for the animal.

Now knowing of how he should feed the kitten, Claude did the exact same. As he feed the kitten, Dimitri watched and said, “Kittens under a week old don’t have gag reflex yet, feed them slowly. And place your finger in its throat to make sure its swallowing, but make sure you are not choking it.”

The archer did as the prince instructed. At first he had some little problems, but he quickly managed. Sure, he did take care of kittens, but the kittens were at least a month old, when they just recently weaned and were are not as vulnerable as a neonatal. For Claude this was a complete new experience, and he loved it. The fact that he needs to be extra gentle and seeing a man known for his (in)famous strength doing a way better job than him was rather… adorable. This meant that Dimitri did take care of neonatal kittens before and perhaps some of the cats are the ones he personally nursed and raised to adulthood. And given of how some of the cats are really fond of him… yeah, it’s the only thing that makes sense.

After feeding them all, the prince grabbed one of the tissues and cleaned their faces and then grabbed new one and began to rub it in the rear. Claude looked at him confused, asking again why he was doing that, to which he answered, “Kittens can’t shit and piss on their own, so the mother often licks them to stimulate them,” as he said that, soon the tissue was wet with a yellow substance, “Hmmm… this means they are dehydrated,” Claude looked at it a little bit disgusted, to which Dimitri, again, answered, “If you thought taking care of kittens was all cute and adorable, you are dead wrong. Grab a tissue and do it. And be grateful that you don't have to actually lick their rear.”

Yes, Claude was really grateful for that. So, he grabbed a tissue and helped the kittens to go to the bath. He often forgets that part, because when he was taking care of the older kittens, they already knew of how to go to the bath on their own. Now he saw the yucky part of raising a kitten.

After everything was done, they placed them back on the fur cloak. Dimitri began to take of his breastplate and then he took off his sturdy leather, leaving him only with his black turtleneck. He then grabbed his fur and gently held them thigh against his chest, just like Claude did. And when he leaned closer just to see the kittens, Dimitri growled at him. The archer chuckled and got up. He patted the prince’s head, “Ok, ok, you big, feral mom. I will leave your babies alone.”

As he walked away, he heard Dimitri say, “They need to feed every two hours.”

Claude knew that he didn’t say just to let him know, he said it because he _expects_ him to return in two hours for the next feeding and bath session. And they have to feed them every two hours for a whole month? Even in the middle of the night? The only thing that came to Claude’s head is just how troublesome is going to be.

At first the Leader did find it rather troublesome. Indeed it was to some extent, but that is because had little sleep during the nights. But really, the sessions didn’t take a long time and as he was getting better at it, it didn’t take longer than 10 minutes. And spending some times with the kittens after a war council or when he was feeling stressed, those minutes were very relaxing to him, especially when he was rewarded with the purrs as they feed them. To his conclusion, it was a little bit inconvenient for his sleep schedule than anything else, but taking away that, it was more than worth it. After seeing Claude preparing the formula, Marianne joined them too. Dimitri didn’t mind her, but then again, it is hard to read him.

After four weeks of taking care of them, luckily for them, it is the age when they start to regulate their body temperature on their own. They no longer needed Dimitri’s warm and his fur... however, that didn’t stop the kittens for yearning said cloak. One day when Claude and Marianne went to the cathedral to see how the kittens were faring, what they found was Dimitri lying down, on his belly, now wearing his fur cloak… with the kittens on top of it.

They both looked at the prince, unable to move from his spot because the kittens were lying there, purring and kneading the fur like they do when nursing. One of them walked on top of Dimitri’s head and began to knead him as well. He grunted in annoyance because it seems he wanted to move, but now than ever he was unable to do so, and he said pathetically with a low voice, “Help me.”

Both Claude and Marianne chuckled and walked each of Dimitri’s side. They both sat and began to pet the kittens, who were still kneading the prince’s fur and the one on top of his head still kneading his hair.

“Nah, you look really good like this,” Claude said as he placed one of the kittens right next to the prince’s face. The little furball sniffed the blond man and began to lick his cheek, “or did you forget, you big, feral man? You became their mom the moment you brought them here.”

Marianne chuckled again as she kept petting the kittens. She then placed another kitten to the other side of the prince's face and it began to lick him as well. Dimitri once again growled in annoyance, but absolutely no one, not even the little furballs, took him seriously.

**Author's Note:**

> Dimitri's fluffy fur cloak, kittens... two great tastes that taste great together.  
> And also, this fanfic partially came to my head after one of my cats decided to lay down and knead my ass while I was lying down playing Echoes.


End file.
